Move over, Izaak Walton

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The following few words for Memorial Day come to us from Chris Yates, whose lovely book “How to Fish” was just published by The Overlook Press this month:

The obvious temptation now, after I’ve spent the last hour or so taking dictation from the river,is to cast again and try for another perch. Like any other angler who’s just made a catch, I’m always fairly eager to get my line back in the water, but if I’ve just landed something special I feel it’s not only dishonourable to the fish but also to the occasion if I don’t pause to properly appreciate the moment. For now, I still feel a three-pounder is just too glorious to share the day with anyfish else.... I don’t need a barrowful; all I ever hope is that, every now and then, some brilliant creature rises out of the secrecy of its river so I can rejoice in it and make a definite you-are-real-after-all contact.

If you can’t read this blog item, then I hope it means you are far from any computer, experiencing exactly the kind of quiet gestures of satisfaction that Yates is talking about.

If you are reading this item, promise that you will log off soon and, if the weather permits where you are, go outside and sit on the grass.

Nick Owchar